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Three great blogs, Traveling with T, Estella’s Revenge, and GirlXOXO are hosting A Month of Favorites this holiday season. Today’s theme is “New to Me Authors.” I’m tweaking that to only include authors who were new to everyone this year with their debut novels. I read 19 debut novels in 2016 and considered 15 of them for this list. That’s a lot of wonderful new writing! It wasn’t easy, but I finally narrowed the list down to my 10 favorites. They’re listed in alphabetical order. Do I have a top pick out of all of these? I tried. Really, I did, but there is just too much great writing here! I loved each of these debuts for different reasons and look forward to reading many more novels by these ten new voices.
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
Three reasons I loved it:
- A villain you love to hate.
- The story told in two times frames, meeting at the end.
- The narrator! (I listened to this one on an Audible.)
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Three reasons I loved it:
- The Arctic in a post-apocalyptic world.
- An aging-scientist caring for an abandoned child.
- Communication as a basic human need.
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
Three reasons I loved it:
- Lily, Lily, Lily – the most endearing dog ever!
- Ted’s completely original, unique voice.
- The ending was perfection.
Shelter by Jung Yun
Three reasons I loved it:
- A truly original, devastating opening.
- Powerful, painful, palpable emotions.
- Secrets and doubt running throughout.
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Three reasons I loved it:
- An all female perspective on war.
- The Rabbits of Ravensbrück story.
- Life after World War II.
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
Three reasons I loved it:
- An insider’s view of the high-end restaurant world.
- A painful love-triangle.
- Tess’s rush of experiences in NYC.
The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church
Three reasons I loved it:
- The “bird” intro to each chapter.
- Meridian’s slow loss of her dreams.
- Metamorphosis in the 60’s, 70’s and beyond.
The Longest Night by Andria Williams
Three reasons I loved it:
- Nat’s loneliness and longing.
- Secrets that pull Nat and Paul apart.
- The story of the Idaho Falls nuclear reactor meltdown.
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Three reasons I loved it:
- Bennett’s stunning writing.
- Nadia’s evolution.
- The choices that haunted Nadia, Aubrey and Luke.
Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss
Three reasons I loved it:
- Art world circa 1980 in NYC.
- Interesting, well-developed, likable characters.
- The collision of storylines.
2016 was truly an outstanding year for new writers. So good that more than one of these debut novels will be showing up on my “Best Books of 2016” list. (Coming soon!) I look forward to seeing what debuts 2017 will bring!
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You read a ton of debuts! I feel like I read a lot, but really enjoyed only 8…however a higher % of those 8 than ever before will likely end up on my Best of 2016 overall list. Thrilled to see Shelter on here – I really feel like not enough people have read that one and need to!
I really do have a thing for debut novel and I completely agree with you about Shelter. You’ll see several of these on my best of 2016 list!
Shelter was one of my favorites this year, and I’m looking forward to The Mothers and Behind Closed Doors (waiting on my kindle). The Atomic Weight of Love and The Longest Night sound like my kind of books, too.
Good Morning, Midnight was one of my absolute favorites of the year. It was so different from what I normally read, but I really loved it!
I have Behind Closed Doors in my book pile and I MUST get to it soon after seeing what you had to say 🙂
Loving you r list and see quite a few titles to add to my 2017 reading list. Thanks for the recommendations!
I am such a fan of debuts and this is a great list! I absolutely loved Tuesday Nights and didn’t even know it was a debut.
I appreciate your concise approach of 3 Reasons. Brilliant! It tells me all I need to know.
I feel like Tuesday Nights didn’t get as much attention as it deserved. Glad to hear you liked it, too.
I loved ‘Tuesday Nights’ as well! I think it was a finalist for a large French prize, which is very cool. And thank you, Susie, for including ‘The Longest Night.’ I think debut novels are exciting….every author gets only one!
I agree with you about debut novels. I tend to read a lot of them and I loved yours!
Excellent post, BCD is also one of my faves this year. I’m dying to read The Mothers <3
Thank you!
Yes, the audible edition of Behind Closed Doors was very good!
Love this list! Lily & The Octopus and Behind Closed Doors were two of my favorite debut reads this year. I really want to read the others on this list and I am happy to hear that you enjoyed them!
Glad to hear you also liked Lily and the Octopus. It’s another one I feel like didn’t get enough attention.
Lilac Girls and The Mothers have been on my TBR for awhile, and Shelter was just added from another “best of” post from JoAnn. I am really looking forward to reading that now too. There are a couple here that I haven’t seen before, which is great, so I will do dome digging. Thanks you for the recommendations, Susie.
What a great list — so many terrific debut novels this year. I think my favorite was Lilac Girls — what an amazing story.
Shelter and Sweetbitter are on my TBR list for next year. I am *still* reading The Mothers…and by still I mean I opened the book and stuck a bookmark in at page one before running up against a weeks-long reading slump. I will get to it soon!
By the way, I love how you formatted this post! Bullet points are great for my ADD brain. 😉